What happened to being the HD leader?

[gadgtfreek]

Back on the other topic, I wonder if these new channel adds aren't a little selective bacause of limited capacity. Even Scott said they'd have to be selective. I think we got comedy today, and not travel because of how many watch one compared to the other.

If I had 7 slots and 10 channels, I'd get the top 7 viewed channels added, barring any contract issues.

 

[vurbano]

Back on the other topic, I wonder if these new channel adds aren't a little selective bacause of limited capacity. Even Scott said they'd have to be selective. I think we got comedy today, and not travel because of how many watch one compared to the other.

If I had 7 slots and 10 channels, I'd get the top 7 viewed channels added, barring any contract issues.

Call me jaded but do you know what I think is the reason we do not have all of the HBO HD channels? Because HBO is the most popular premium and they are going to get our money on it anyway. The jerks. I do not buy the excuses about contracts.

 

[darrencp22]

I'm dropping starz soon. I dont understand all the clamoring to get all the HD premiums. They seem to just repeat the same moves but on multiple channels. I think it's a real waste. Seriously, for a channel like Starz, Showtime, HBO, how many movies do they really show? They seem to rotate the same 10-15 and occasionally add a new one.

 

[DodgerKing]

I'm dropping starz soon. I dont understand all the clamoring to get all the HD premiums. They seem to just repeat the same moves but on multiple channels. I think it's a real waste. Seriously, for a channel like Starz, Showtime, HBO, how many movies do they really show? They seem to rotate the same 10-15 and occasionally add a new one.

Had it free for three days this weekend and like all of the other free preview times, it only confirmed why I would never pay any extra money to get any premium package. There is literally nothing on. Everything that interests me, I have already seen and the rest of the programming is not worth watching.

 

[goaliebob99]

I'm dropping starz soon. I dont understand all the clamoring to get all the HD premiums. They seem to just repeat the same moves but on multiple channels. I think it's a real waste. Seriously, for a channel like Starz, Showtime, HBO, how many movies do they really show? They seem to rotate the same 10-15 and occasionally add a new one.

And HD PPV's dont do the same thing. At least with HD premiums, I can enjoy the rotation 24/7. Too bad D* didnt offer a monthly titanium package.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Call me jaded but do you know what I think is the reason we do not have all of the HBO HD channels? Because HBO is the most popular premium and they are going to get our money on it anyway. The jerks. I do not buy the excuses about contracts.

I was talking more non premiums. I do agree it's bs they don't have hbos, especially with what people pay.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I have already seen and the rest of the programming is not worth watching.

Thats because D* premiums consist of mostly East and West versions. They suck! The more premiums the more variety.

 

[AntDogg65]

I agree with Darren, they all just repeat the same movies every three hours, especially HBO. They don't even have a new movie every week, the only one that is worth it's salt is Cinemax. You know that every Saturday @ ten, you're getting a new movie that had a decent theatrical draw. Unlike Starz that only shows their family movies, or Showtime that shows a lot of indies.

 

[DodgerKing]

And HD PPV's dont do the same thing. At least with HD premiums, I can enjoy the rotation 24/7. Too bad D* didnt offer a monthly titanium package.

Yeah...And? The PPVs were added for a particular reason. Why do you think they have so many of them?

1. They are place holders for future channels. Better to use the unused bandwidth to make money while waiting for future launches.
2. Some serve as part time money makers in between games for some sports packages, especially ST (not so much the other sports since they are already carrying their feed on CONUS anyway).

 

[darrencp22]

And HD PPV's dont do the same thing. At least with HD premiums, I can enjoy the rotation 24/7. Too bad D* didnt offer a monthly titanium package.

Why not just use your DVR? How many times a day does National Treasure need to play? Seems like a waste of bandwith. That same movie will play on different starz channels. By the looks of it, the other premiums do the same thing.

 

[DodgerKing]

Thats because D* premiums consist of mostly East and West versions. They suck! The more premiums the more variety.

Only HBO HD. The SD channels and the showtime channels are pretty much the same what is offered by other providers. The movies on these and the east and west feeds is what I am speaking of.

Even if Direct offered every single available premium channel in both SD and HD, I still would not sign up. It is not worth it for and and does not interest me. I know it does interest others, such as yourself, so for you it would be worth it.

 

[david1314]

I'm dropping starz soon. I dont understand all the clamoring to get all the HD premiums. They seem to just repeat the same moves but on multiple channels. I think it's a real waste. Seriously, for a channel like Starz, Showtime, HBO, how many movies do they really show? They seem to rotate the same 10-15 and occasionally add a new one.

Agreed 100%.

I'm a premium sub, have been for years, (since the days of thinking the $800 dish was money well spent)

I would like to see some more networks in HD, but that being said I would take new networks in SD only, long before wanting to see bandwidth wasted on adding more premium HD. What a waste.

I understand others feel differently but am glad to see D come to a complete stop on adding Premium HD.

HBO 8- Pass!

 

[paulman182]

Between TCM, IFC, Sundance, Encore Westerns and the HD premium channels, I get all the movies I have time to watch, which is about six a week.

I especially wish we would get IFC HD and TCM HD (doesn't exist yet.) I understand if you only want to watch heavily-promoted big-budget movies, the premiums are not worth it. If you're a die-hard movie fan it is hard to live without them, even with Netflix.

And yes, I'd like to see the HD versions of all our premiums, but I've got a lot to watch already.

 

[Woochifer]

NJ carrys these. http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetail/NR/rdonlyres/831511D8-1CF4-4843-8437-9C00FD336389/0/NNJ_CLU.pdf
And CA carrys these
http://www22.verizon.com/NROneRetai...3C-BB19-4B36-9D81-D9D808565C27/0/SCAL_CLU.pdf

Thanx for the links. My understanding is that FiOS is not available in most areas in Cali.

That SoCal program grid confirms that FiOS does not offer any out-of-town regional sports channels, HD or not. Prime Ticket and FSN West are offered in HD to SoCal residents. But, for a SoCal expat like me who likes to keep up with the L.A. teams, not having any access to the local regional sports networks is pretty much a dealbreaker, no matter how good the rest of the service is.

With my current Directv service, I already get the HD feeds for FSN West and Prime Ticket. No matter how many other national HD channels FiOS adds to their service, I won't switch to any service that lacks an out-of-town RSN option. Just like some people view the lack of premium HD channels as a glaring omission, I view the sports packages the same way.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

[*]They are place holders for future channels. Better to use the unused bandwidth to make money while waiting for future launches.]

You mean even more future HD channels that they decide to not offer???

When you are sitting on a excess capacity of 15-25 channels, upper end is if they eliminate some of HD PPV channels, and there are 30 or more existing HD channels that you aren't carrying, then this argument doesn't hold much water.

I think they should cut down on the excessive number of HD PPV channels, give us about 5-6 more national HD channels and 5-6 more of the premium HD movie channels, and then tell us that they have to be selective. They have 29 HD PPV channels right now. I know some of these are shared channels with certain sports channels and thus are not all exclusive PPV. But it is frustrating having paid D* for the premium channels and for HD and then for them to withhold so many of the channels while offering scads of additional HD movies channels for which I'd have to pay even more. It really feels like a ripoff.

It is like them selling you NFL:ST and then only broadcasting half of the games on ST while offering the other half on PPV channels.

For right now, adding another 10-12 HD channels is something they could easily do. And they would still have a good 10 or more in reserve.

 

[tds4182]

Call me jaded but do you know what I think is the reason we do not have all of the HBO HD channels? Because HBO is the most popular premium and they are going to get our money on it anyway. The jerks. I do not buy the excuses about contracts.

V, your reference to "calling yourself jaded" is roughly akin to referring to the Rock of Gibraltar as a "pebble."

 

[Zellio2008]

I'll say this as nicely as possible. People would be alot more inclined to buy premium channels at $12-$14 a month then spend $4.99 (or more) on a movie that goes away in 24 hours.

Your talking 4 movie premiums. A person would hafta get 3 ppv movies a month to match one premium channel, and 6-9 to match the package when you buy it as premier.

And at that point you'd hafta be a movie buff, which at that case makes more sense to buy a premium channel.

If D* was to remove most of the HD ppvs and replace them with premiums people want, they would make alot more money, esp. due to more people buying premiums.

The people who think it's better to have all these hd ppv's must have graduated from the same economics class as Darth Malone.

When a person says that something makes money, they should take it while understanding that the customer will make the choice. Because customers can easily leave for other companies with bigger choices, IE Dish Network. Just because you have a service doesn't mean people will buy it. They need a compelling reason.

When you say that HD PPV makes money from people, while other tv companies have a larger amount of movies that DON'T EXPIRE AFTER ONE DAY, then you obviously don't get what customers are after.

As much as HD PPV channels are hyped by D* apologists for making money, you cannot show me a large number of people who buy enough hd ppv that wouldn't end up with them spending more on a premium channel subscription.

And BTW, just because you only have two channels that replay the same movies over and over, doesn't mean anything when you have tons of channels playing different movies over and over. At the very least, having a large selection will net you more choices.

 

[Zellio2008]

Lets dissect all of the HD PPV channels, available on 5 pics:

Okay, of all 29 hd ppv, lets count how many different movies or shows are on:

1. Royal Rumble
2. Dr. Suess
3. Burn after reading
4. Death Race
5. The Express
6. Disaster Movie
7. Tropic Thunder
8. Step Brothers
9. Indiana Jones
10. Wanted
11. Appaloosa
12. CHE Part 1

So all of these movie channels couldn't be shrunk? And a person who subscribes to premiums and wanted to buy a new movies somehow COULDN'T find one between the 17 identical channels? And the premiums running the same movies over and over are WORSE then 29 channels running the same 12 movies for weeks?

If all that is shown are 12 different ppv channels, then there's no excuse not to take 10-17 away for other stuff, no one would have a problem with ppv selection and more would subscribe to premiums.

If you STILL can't figure it out after this, try and understand that PPV is a means to an end, not THE END. PPV is an extra subscribers use for new channels. Regular channels and premium channels are what entice users to subscribe to them. PPV should NEVER be used in place of regular channels, because regular channels entice users to buy into your service and stay.

 

[DAVEGTESTR]

Thanx for the links. My understanding is that FiOS is not available in most areas in Cali.

That SoCal program grid confirms that FiOS does not offer any out-of-town regional sports channels, HD or not. Prime Ticket and FSN West are offered in HD to SoCal residents. But, for a SoCal expat like me who likes to keep up with the L.A. teams, not having any access to the local regional sports networks is pretty much a dealbreaker, no matter how good the rest of the service is.

With my current Directv service, I already get the HD feeds for FSN West and Prime Ticket. No matter how many other national HD channels FiOS adds to their service, I won't switch to any service that lacks an out-of-town RSN option. Just like some people view the lack of premium HD channels as a glaring omission, I view the sports packages the same way.

BINGO! That is what I'm looking for too. Out-of-town sports networks. There are many NY/LA/Chicago/Boston/SF etc. ex-patriots out there. Great post for a Freshman! I am looking into this very issue of how many HD feeds FiOS will have for hockey and baseball. I need to stop by the demo in one of their wireless centers again. Didn't see much hockey on FiOS before, 3 games of wretched-looking SD. I do enjoy the movie channels but am questioning their value.

 

[grydlok]

BINGO! That is what I'm looking for too. Out-of-town sports networks. There are many NY/LA/Chicago/Boston/SF etc. ex-patriots out there. Great post for a Freshman! I am looking into this very issue of how many HD feeds FiOS will have for hockey and baseball. I need to stop by the demo in one of their wireless centers again. Didn't see much hockey on FiOS before, 3 games of wretched-looking SD. I do enjoy the movie channels but am questioning their value.

The only HD channels I am missing now is cartoon network, but I still have one Hr20 left so I am good.